FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  (Feb. 13, 2008)    

Feel the Adventure at the Dallas Zoo
Visit Stingray Bay and SpongeBob SquarePants™
March 8 through Labor Day

Have a touching experience at the Dallas Zoo’s new Stingray Bay in the Wilds of Africa, which opens March 8, thanks to CITI, which generously sponsored the exhibit. Feel the gentle rays as they brush against your hand in their shallow pool. Next, take a 3-dimensional motion ride down to a pineapple under the sea and visit everyone’s favorite invertebrate – SpongeBob SquarePants™. The new 3-D adventure ride next to Stingray Bay, features SpongeBob and his buddy Patrick pursuing a runaway pickle in heavy traffic at Bikini Bottom.

“There is nothing like it around this part of Texas,” said Gregg Hudson, executive director of the Dallas Zoo and The Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park. “The feeling of these stingrays brushing against your hand is unforgettable – and completely safe.

“We have expanded the Zoo by adding a giant tented area off the Wilds of Africa to accommodate Stingray Bay and the SpongeBob SquarePants™ motion ride. It is the largest traveling exhibit the Dallas Zoo has ever featured and it looks like a tropical paradise with landscaping and fun inflatable decorations. Now there is even more to explore.”

Stingray Bay features almost two dozen cownose rays and southern stingrays in a 17,000-gallon saltwater pool. Staff and volunteers will monitor the pool, inform guests about the best ways to touch the animals, and answer questions.  Educational interpreters explain the role of stingrays and the environment.

Safe for all ages, the landscaped tank features a waterfall and a wide ledge for toddlers to lean against when touching the rays. The rays’ poisonous barbs have been carefully trimmed off their whip-like tails. The painless procedure is similar to cutting human fingernails. The stingrays can visit the center of the pool to rest.

Admission to Stingray Bay is $2.50 and the SpongeBob SquarePants™ ride is $5. Discounts are available when tickets are purchased with Zoo admission at the front gate. Stingray food is $1 when feeding schedules permit.